Laurent Gbagbo

Laurent Gbagbo (31 May 1945-) was President of Cote d'Ivoire from 26 October 2000 to 11 April 2011, succeeding Robert Guei and preceding Alassane Ouattara.

Biography
Laurent Gbagbo was born on 31 May 1945 in Gagnoa, French West Africa to a family of Catholic Ivorians. Gbagbo was originally a historian, chemist, and physicist, but his union activism led to him going into exile in France in the 1980s. In 1982 he founded the Ivorian Popular Front and won a seat in the National Assembly of Cote d'Ivoire in 1990, and in October 2000 he took power in a coup against the military junta of Robert Guei. Gbagbo was installed as a president, but he faced the same problems as his predecessor, becoming a dictator. In 2010 he alleged that the vote count was fraud and annulled the results, and Alassane Ouattara was recognized as the winner of the elections by ECOWAS, the African Union, and the international community, while the constitutional council recognized Gbagbo as winner. From 28 November 2010 to 11 April 2011, a crisis began that led to the United Nations and France intervening in the country. 61 security forces were killed, 50+ rebels killed, and 1,500+ civilians killed before Gbagbo was arrested. In November 2011 he was extradited to the International Criminal Court, and on 28 January 2016 he was charged with murder, rape, and persecution by the ICC.